I See Through You

Chapter. 7

It's been six months we've know Val. She is amazing. She really... Understands us. And accepts us for who we are not what we look like.

But it still makes me frown every single time I think about it.

I do that because, well, how can she see through us if she can't see us at all?

Anyways, her parents left to help some friends and would stay the night away, so they asked one of us to watch over Val because... Well I didn't get it exactly, but they said today she might feel a bit depressed.

Of course I was the first one to volunteer. So I headed there as it's been a couple of hours they left. They left at 4 p.m., so I couldn't have gone there earlier.

Still, when I got there, I knocked on her window. I didn't get any response, but when I heard glass breaking, I opened it and headed towards the living room.

"Val?!" I asked as I got down the stairs.

Soon enough, I found her. She was by the counter, with her face headed to the floor.

"Oh, hey, Leo. Didn't hear you coming." She said. Something's wrong. I can feel it.

"Val, don't move, okay? I'll clean that up." I said as I headed towards her.

As I cleaned I kept glancing at her every now and then. Her expression didn't change. It was emotionless. Way different from the happy version of her I got used to.

When I was done, I turned to her.

"Are you okay?"

"Never been better." She said. I could almost feel venom coming from her lips, like she was furious and didn't want to tell me why.

"C'mon, Val. I know you enough to say for a fact you are not okay. Tell me what's wrong."

Then, she let out a long sigh. Then she turned to me. She told me she could tell how tall I was from where my voice 'came from'.

Anyway, after doing that she pointed at her eyes. "This is what's wrong, Leo. Okay? My eyes don't work anymore, and I hate it!" She shouted.

I was taken aback from her behaviour, but I kept listening to her.

"It was today, you know? Almost ten years ago, it was today I lost my vision because of my stupidity!"

"... W-What do you mean?"

Another sigh. "The accident, Leo. I... I caused it..." She mumbled.

My eyes widened. "What...?"

She shrugged. "I was just... Trying to have some fun like a normal kid. My grandfather has a farm, and I used to go there every weekend. I used to do all sort of stuff. Fishing, horse riding which I loved and miss, running around, climbing trees, and..."

She bit her lower lip. "I loved when my father or grandpa drove the car as fast as possible on the dirt road... But... One day, I was on the trunk of my grandfather's pickup with one of my cousins driving... I kept asking him to go faster and faster, but... When he made a turn... I fell down the hill. As I rolled down I hit my head more times than I could count. But I was still awake. Then, I hit my head on a tree hard enough to break my neck, but all I did was pass out..."

She let out a stressed breath. "When I woke up, I could still see, but partially. We went straight to the hospital and they said I lost 50% of my sight with that hit."

My eyes widened even more.

"They told me to wait five years to see if it would get better. It didn't, so we took the option to have a surgery... On the same day it'd be five years I lost part of my sight... When I woke up after the surgery, I couldn't see anything but faint shadows..."

She hung her head down. And before I could do anything, I heard sniffing.

"I lost it, Leo... All because I wanted to have fun... I was so stupid!" She said as she hit her head.

She kept hitting it over and over again, but I made her stop by grabbing her wrists.

"Val. Val. Val! Stop it! This won't make things better!" I shouted.

She looked up at me, her gray eyes full of sadness as tears fell from them.

"And what will...? Huh?! I lost it forever Leo! Now I will never be able to see again!" She sobbed.

Before I could stop myself I hugged her tight.

"Shh. Shh." I shushed her as I rubbed her back and she kept crying into my chest.

"*Sniff* I don't want... I don't want to be called a freak anymore... I don't want people to shut me out... I... I just want to see... I want to see with my own eyes... I want to see my parents... My music teacher... Your brothers... Your father... And... I... I want to see you, Leo... B-But I can't... *Sniff*" 

I bit my lip. What could I do?

"I know you can't... But there are a lot of things you can do."

"*Sniff* Like what?"

"... You can play the piano beautifully... You can sing like an angel... You can make anyone smile just by smiling, trust me. You can make people feel like they belong. Like you do with me and my brothers."

Then, I heard a soft chuckle. "That's because you make me feel that way... Like I'm not a freak."

"You are not a freak, Val." I said as I pulled away, held her shoulders, got on her eye level and looked at her in her eyes. I know she can't see me, but I have to do it while looking at her in her eyes.

"You are the most amazing girl I've ever met. You are smart, talented, honest, funny, kind, and beautiful. And if others can't see through your blindness, then they are the blind ones. I know you must miss things you liked to see, but you can see so much more than what the normal eye can see. And if you don't believe me, I'll keep saying that until you do."

"*Sigh* But... It's not the same thing."

"I know it isn't. But to me, that's what makes you so special. You can see, Val. More than you think. I know it's a bit pointless saying this to you when you're blind, but that's the truth."

She opened a small smile. "You really think that? That I somehow can see?"

"I know that. You may have lost your normal sight, but you gained something else, something better. You gained the ability to see through people's appearances. You see me and my brothers that way because you see us with your heart. You see our personalities, our souls. And you don't need to actually see to do that."

Her smile got bigger, and I pulled her to another hug, one that she retributed.

"Besides, trust me when I say there are things out there that shouldn't be seen. Much less from someone as incredible as you." I said.

"... Thank you, Leo... Thank you."